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Ethiopians push SA for Mengistu extradition
Mengistu: Blamed for red terror campaign |
By Greg Barrow in Johannesburg
A diplomatic wrangle is under way between the South African and the Ethiopian governments over a request for the extradition to Ethiopia of the country's former president Mengistu Haile Mariam.
 "It is not understandable why Ethiopia would make such a request to South Africa, when they have not made the request to Zimbabwe  |
| South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma |
Mr Mengistu has been pursued by the current Ethiopian Government ever since he fled the country in 1991 as rebel forces closed in on the capital Addis Ababa.
For much of the past eight years, Mr Mengistu has been living in Zimbabwe, a country which granted him asylum and has repeatedly refused extradition requests from Ethiopia.
Undisclosed illness
His recent visit to South Africa to seek medical treatment for an undisclosed illness, revived hope in Ethiopia that the former president might be extradited.
The Ethiopian Government says it has lodged a formal request for extradition saying that Mr Mengistu faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in his home country.
But the South Africans say all they have had is an approach from the Ethiopian embassy in Pretoria and as the countries are not signatories to a formal extradition treaty, Mr Mengistu is unlikely to be sent back to his homeland.
This will disappoint the Ethiopian authorities who hold Mr Mengistu responsible for what has become known as the red terror campaign, a bloody battle between rival marxist factions in which thousands of people were killed.
Despite his absence, Ethiopian courts are already trying Mr Mengistu and hundreds of other government officials accused of directing the killings which took place in the late 1970s.
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26 Nov 99 | Africa |
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Ethiopia tells South Africa: Extradite Mengistu |
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09 Sep 98 | Africa |
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Ethiopia releases officers |
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